Garter



May 4 1926.

1,583,552 A. C. HERZBERG GARTER Filed April 24, 1924 (fl ZZ avg Bx W TTORNEYS 4 INVENTOR. 6554;

HllilllllI ti g ng to Patented May 4, 1926.

5 A BERT c. HERZBERQD 1 Ga es;

lppl ication filed April 24,1924. Seria1 N,o. 7o8,63 0.

To all echo m, ifmay/concm: I Be it known thatI, ALBERT C. HERZBERG, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Memphis, in the county of 'Shelbyand State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a: full, clear, and exact -desc ription ofthe inven tion, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accom-e panying drawings, and to characters of reference marked thereon which form a part of this specification. l This invention relates to improvements in mens garters or sock supporters for attach ment to knee-length undergarments;

- The invention has forits principal object toprovide a non-restrictive socksupporter or garter I especially adapted for attachment to the lower ends of knee -length undergarments,whereby the supporter or garter is suspendedat the side of. the wearers leg so that its lower end is conveniently positioned for operative attachment to the top of, the wearers sock. The invention'has fora further object to providea garter of'the kind ,Inentioned, which isself-adjustable tothe bending of the leg of the vvearer when walkingor sitting,,and which,inevertheless, provides a taut support for keeping the sock pulled up without discomfort to thewearer,

'or without undue strains upon either the undergarment orithe'sock, which would be likely to tear-or injure the fabrics thereof. 'My novel garter structure is designed 'to Qprovideadditional advantages by-reason of the arrangement and correlation of its parts whereby, when the wearer is seated and the ':leg is bent, resulting in a shortening of the distance between the undergarment and sock, any looseness or' slackness is taken up by the'bend or gathering of the outertrousers under'the knee,'which causes thegarter body portions, wherejoined by the compenbend or curve around the I angle formedby the thus gatheredportions of the trousers,.thereby permitting a natural and easy automatic adjustment of the garter to all positions of the leg without lossof desired supporting tautness,. and yet with- 1 out unduestrain likely topullthe undergarment into uncomfortable positions. The

1 garter structure is so arranged that-in use 5 it may be'left attached to the undergarment when detached from the sock in undressing,

1* mb rs, TENNESSEE.

and is. consequently always conveniently ea e q e u el tl s V "ready for use when the 'garments v Other objects of time more particularly enumerated, wil-lljbe understood. from he following. de:

clearly I tailed description of the same.

W'th the various objects of th'eihvent ion in :view, the same-consists in the novel con;-

'struction of. mens garter hereinafter setforth; and, the invention consists, ffurther} Vmore, in the novel arrangements and f-com\-- binations of the various devices andparts thereof, as'well asin thewdetail's ofthe con- ,struction of the same all of which will be fully described in the following specifica tion, and thenfinally embodied in. ap-

pendedclaima I :4

QThe invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which -Figure is, aperspective View showing the application of the novel garter to the garments of the wearer when v use,-' and showing the disposition andfuii'ctioningfof the same when the wearers-, leg is bent' Figure 2 is a side elevation of the f vearers leg," showing the disposition andioperative arrangement of the garter between the kneelength undergarment and sock, and. more particularly the position assumed by the garter when the wearer is" standingjf Figvure 3 is an enlarged rmg-menm gview, showing the compensating ring which-Opel ativelyjoins the'upper and lower body portions of the gartertogether; Figure (a side view] of a knee-length undergarment,

showing how the-garter remains conveniently attachedthereto when the samefi v moved from the" person of the wearerj'fand Figure5'is a face viewof thenovelgarter modified to provide a single sock gripfinstead of'a' double grip,

-VSimil'ar characters of reference are employed in all of the hereinabove{described views, to indicate correspondingparts;

elastic Webbing, which is doubled upon 'itself to pass itsupper end through a compenioo Referring fe S awings', the orefiefrsating ,and articulating ring 7. The body or member 6 is provided with a buckle .or clasp 8, which cooperates with thejdoubled regulation: or adjustmentof the -lengthiof portions thereof, sofas 1 tolpermit of the body or member 6, as the conditions of use thereof may require, all in the manner familiar to those skilled in the garment supporter art. Connected with the lower end of said body or member 6, in any suitable manner, as, e. g. by means of a coupling member 9, is a sockfastener member,

either in the form of' a double -grip member 10, as shown in'Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, or in the form of a single grip member 11, as shown in Figure 5. The fastener devices or grip members per se', may be of any Well known form or construction, such as the buttonmember 12 and associate-d separable loop-member 13, as shown in the drawings.

The reference character 14 indicates a supporter member which is slidingly passed through the upper side of the compensating .and articulating ring 7 so as to be doubled therethrough and thus provide a pair of upwardly extending and somewhat divergent arms 14 and 14". The supporter member 14 is thus arranged so that it will freely I slide through the ring 7 and will also turn on the ring as a fulcrum. The respective arms 14 and 14 are each provided at their free extremities with fastener devices or grip members 15, which may be of any well known form or construction, but preferably are of the same character or kind as the above described sock fasteners, viz, comprising a'button member and an associated separable loop-member. V V

Y While I have described in detail one garter or supporter device, it will be understood that the same are used in pairs, providing a supporter for eachsock of the wearer. In utilizing the garters, the same are at, tached respectively to the lower marginal extremities of a knee-length undergarment 16, by meansof the fastener devices or grip members 15, so that the supporter member 14,- as'coupled with the main body or lower member 6 by the compensating and articulating ring 7 is suspended from the kneelength undergarment, whereby the sock grip membersor fastener'devices are positioned for operative attachment to the socks 17. In

attaching the garter or supporter in the general way above mentioned, the fastener devices or grip members 15 are secured to the fabric of the undergarment 16,. at the outer side of the garment leg, and respectively on opposite sidesof the outer leg seam of said garment, thus suspending the garter for downward extension along the outer side ofthe wearers leg, with the compensating and articulating ring 7 substantially alined with'or opposite the knee joint of the wearers leg. The main body or lower member 6 may then be adjusted to the desired length, whereby the sock grip members are conveniently disposed for attachment to the upper marginal portion or top of the wearers sock 17, as shown in "Figure 2. It will be found in the actual member 14, to wit the arms 14' and14,

function in a manner to provide two very garments and the leg of the wearer, when the leg is straight as in'standing, or when bent, as in sitting. When the wearer is standing, said attached extremities of the arms 14 and 14"., being connected with the soft fabric of the undergarment, will tend to draw together, thus tending to lengthen the supporter member 14 under such conditions; when the wearer is seated, 'or when crossing the legs, so that the legs are bent at the knee, the fabric of the undergarment tends to draw laterally across the leg, whereby said attached extremities of the arms '14" and 14" tend to separate or diverge into a V-shape, thus shortening the supporter.

important self-adjustments relative to the by the garter is self-adjusting to accommodate the same to the bent leg position of the wearer, without, on the one hand, undue slackening of the garter from 'thedesired reasonably taut extension between undergarment16and sock 17. when the leg is bent, and on the other hand, without'too great an increase of tautness or tension when the leg ispstraight. In addition to the. tendency of the supporter member" arms 14 and 14 to diverge when the wearers legis bent, the

supporter member 14.will also slide compensatingly through the ring 7 to alter the relativelengths of the. arms 14 and 14",

as the pull on the garter may requirewhen the wearers leg is bent.

In my novel structure there is another factor which operates. to make the garter automatically or self adjustable to the bent leg position of the wearer, without lossof a desirable degree of tension necessary to the smooth upholding of the sock under such conditions. This factor is due to the articulation provided between the supporter member 14 and the main body or lower member 6 of the garter by the compensating and articulating ring 7. As already intimated above, when the wearers leg is bent, the distance between the lower extremity of the undergarment 16 and the top of the sock 17 is shortened, which, in the absence of compensating features, would unduly slacken the garter. This tendency to slackening of the garter is substantially prevented by the divergence of the arms 14 and 14" resulting in the shortening of the supporter member 14 in the manner above described, but in addition to this it will befound that when the leg isbent the outer trousers 18 will gather or bunch upunder the knee, which will tend to hold the ring 7 upward against 7 the side of the knee, so thatthesupporter member 14 cand main body 6 turn *or swing on the ring 7 as a fulcrum, to-- thus cause the garter as a whole to bend around the angle formed by the bent leg, as shown in Figure 1, thus further guarding against undue slackening of the garter.

From the above description it will be parts may swing to bend the garter as a whole relative to the angle formed when the wearers leg is bent. It will thus be apparent that I have provided a non-restrictive garter, from which all parts tending to en-r circle or compress the Wearers leg have been eliminated, so that free circulation of blood through the leg is unimpaired; the garter also is comfortable and convenient, and may be left attached to the undergarment when the latter is removed and consequently always conveniently at hand when the clothes are resumed; and finally, the garter is efliciently selfcompensating or adjustable whereby the same readily and quickly accommodates .itself to all posltions of the Wearers body and legs in walking, bending,

stairs,- et cetera.

Having thus described my invention, I claim-: r

In mens hose supporters for use with knee-length undergarments, the combination with an articulating ring, of an upper supingly engaged through i said articulating ring to provide relatively short upwardly extending divergent arms, gripping means connected with the free end of each arm to individually fasten said arms at separate points to the end of the legxportion of a knee-length undergarment so that the same are capable of sidewise movement toward and away from one another and at the same time so suspend thesupporter member as ;to dispose .said articulating ring adjacent to the bend of the knee of the wearer, a body member suspended from the underside of said articulating ring for sidewise swinging movement thereon, means vconnected with the lower end of saidv body member to engage-and hold asock, and said* body member having means for adjusting its length to properly position said sock holding means relative to the sock top of the In testimony, that Iclaim the invention set forthabove I have hereunto this 17th vday of April, 1924.

v ALBERT G. HERZBERG.-

porter member doubled on'itself and slid-Y set my hand 35 I i I sitting, running, ascending and descending 

